MAAC Updates 2009/10

[Godolphin]

Loyola has the oddest schedule out of any major mid-major school. They swim Navy, George Mason, Seton Hall, and then John Hopkins and VMI? Why not swim more CAA schools? Why not swim ODU, William and Mary, maybe even Maryland or at least UMBC.

It looks like they have a good, well balanced, challenging schedule; additionally they swim Georgetown, Richmond, Delaware and James Madison.

[MAAC Man]

That is a fine schedule for the women but the men are the ones that need to step things up. Georgetown men have a nice young team that is a year or two away and Delaware will give them some competition but they aren't the only MAAC team the Hens will face. Richmond and Madison's women's teams might beat a team or two in the MAACs men's conference but won't do Morris, Torres Reeser, etal any good.

They still swim against Iona and Fairfield and don't attend any of the big pre Christmas invitationals. Towson men are not what they used to be. The only really big meet they will get up for - Rider.

MAAC Man

[localsuperhero]

Haha yeah.

I was actually just thinking the same thing. Four years ago Loyola was known for the Reeser brothers and not much else. I think next year we should see a more challenging schedule if the recruits keep pouring in.

Aside from the NBAC attention I think the major factor in their recruiting is their pool. Look at the rest of the MAAC. Rider? Marist? Loyola is probably a little better than Marist academically but not by too much. Once they really start pulling kids from the top PVS (or even national) clubs like RMSC (where Casey Stroder is from I believe), Curl Burke, etc. and maybe throw in a NBAC swimmer every once in a while they will be THE best mid-major in the country. The appeal to kids from Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Mass., and PA to go to a school south of them is enough to keep a steady incoming class. I toured Loyola and JMU and both tours prob 60% of people where from Jersey and New York. As Loyola gets better they start stealing kids from Rider and Marist.

[MAAC Man]

First Marist vs Fairfield has been moved to Thursday the 14th.

Niagara. As predicted, the Purple Birds were rolled by the Dukies. Dusquesne won the first eight events giving up only one second place to the Eagles. What happened in the last three races – all Niagara victories? In football they call it the “victory formation;” in little league baseball it’s the “mercy rule;” and in swimming, in the spirit of good sportsmanship, it’s called “exhibition.” This was truly a mismatch.

Niagara. Also as predicted, they bounced back against Gannon on Saturday. The Golden Knights won seven events but didn’t have the depth to stay with their Division I opponents. Most impressive was freshman Brian Sawma winning the 100 Fly in 52.47 and McCoy broke 5 minutes in the 500 free and Kevin Jennings swam a nice 22.11 in a 50 Free victory. Does anyone know what happened to Ian O’Rourke (diving)?

Canisius had a meet with Cleveland St. and Malone (Malone?) The only performance of note was Pochatko who won the 200 back in a time of 2:00.96

Loyola. The Greyhounds had a very competitive intra squad meet – second one this year. Johns Hopkins was allowed to walk across the street and pretty much observe the Dogs at play. On Friday, Torres turned in the second fastest 50 Free in the MAAC this year. Mukri was impressive in the 500 free while Drannan is settling nicely into the 200IM.

On Saturday Morris broke the school record in the 400IM (3:56.96) (sorry Jacob). The Hounds had another big day with Reeser winning the 200 Free and Torres breaking 50 seconds in the Fly plus another win the 200 Fly. Oster might be the next Verrico as he turned in an impressive win in the 100 Free. The Greyhounds really showed their depth of talent – and for the most part, they were swimming against each other.

SPC vs Manhattan. Bilonic broke the school record in the 400IM (4:10.77) and another impressive win in the 100 Breast (56.86). On the Jaspers side, Robert Varieur won the 100 Free in a time of 49.49.

Rider was badly beaten by Lehigh, but had a few bright spots. The two freshmen were again the heart of the team but on the whole, the Broncs seemed to swim tired after emotional wins over Seton Hall and Marist. Molloy won the 1000 in 9:48 but died in the 200 free before he came back to finish second in a very competitive 500 Free (4:41). Funk won the 200 Back and the 400 IM (4:10). Player easily won the 50 Free but finished 2nd in both the 100 Free and 100 Fly.

Top times:

Free
50 Torres (LUM) 21.52, Player (RU) 21.73, Reeser 21.76.
100 Oster (LUM) 47.81, Reeser 47.83, Player 48.07
200 Reeser 1:44.76, Mukri (LUM) 1:45.36
500 Morris (LUM) 4:34.93, Molloy 4:41.78, Mukri 4:44.72
1000 Molloy 9:48.83

Fly
100 Torres (LUM) 49.89
200 Torres 1:54.68

Back
100 Morris 52.11, Funk (RU) 52.50, McQuaid (LUM) 53.21
200 Funk 1:54.42, Mukri 1:57.96

Breast
100 Bilonic (SPC) 56.86, Chenet (LUM) 58.90. Fralinger (LUM) 59.50
200 Morris 2:08.08, Fralinger 2:10.01, Chenet 2:14.69

IM
200 Funk 1:54.42, Drannan 1:56.89
400 Morris 3:56.96, Funk 4:10.10, Bilonic 4:10.77

MAAC Man’s Swimmer of the Week: Ozzy Torres LUM – impressive times in the 100 and 200 Fly coupled with the second fastest time of the year in the MAAC in the 50 free – defeating last week’s MAAC Conference Swimmer of the Week, Brad Reeser.

MAAC Man’s Freshman of the Week: Gotta go with Robert Varieur from Manhattan. His time and win in the 100 Free moves him into contention to be a top 16 finisher in February. Good to see a Jasper swimming well.

MAAC Man

[MAAC Man]

Just wanted to makes sure I added the weekly awards:

MAAC Helmet Stickers: Oster, Reeser, Player, Molloy, Funk, Morris, Drannan, Bilonic, Pochatko, Chenet, Fralinger and Mukri.

MAAC Nugget: SPC finally figured out how to do links to show results. On the downside they really missed the mark on reporting the men’s victory in the 200 Free Relay – they show a time of 3:26.58!

Next up - next previews of upcoming meets. Iona and Canisius have byes and Loyola has the next best thing to a bye. Details to follow.

MAAC Man

[localsuperhero]

Depth looks like a problem for Rider and Marist, two schools who historically have had great depth. Esp. on the women's side for Rider. Outside of Burns and Kellyanne and a few others (I think mostly freshman) the Rider women seem to be missing some depth. I think a duel meet doesn't show depth, which in my opinion Marist has. Diving on the women's side will be a killer for Marist.

[MAAC Man]

Long way to go for the women - but Marist does have the advantage. The Rider freshmen are very good - Addison is a big surprise. She came in as backstroker and turns out she is one of the best distance swimmers in the league.

It will still be hard for the Broncs to counter all the girls the Foxes will put in the pool for the distance events and they seem to own the breaststroke. Don't know much about the other schools but their placement will have a big impact on the final outcome.

MAAC Man

[MAAC Man]

As for the Men:

Update: Late report from Manhattan helps support my choice of Robert Varieur as "Freshman of the Week." On Saturday afternoon, Robert broke the school record in the 100 Free (48.94) in a victory over Baruch. This time puts him in the hunt for a top sixteen seed and certainly his performance is in the same league as bigger names from the top half of the MAAC. Jasper Nation - Congratulations.


Weekly Preview:

Marist vs Fairfield. Should be a easy Fox victory but look for the Stags to challenge in the 50 and 100 Free (Bimmler) and 200 Free (Bimmler and Robinson). Fairfield should have outright victories in the 100 and 200 Breaststrokes with Brian Friedlander and possibly in the 100 Backstroke with Andrew Hiss. As Homer would say “Doe!” - don’t look for an upset – our poor Deers don’t have an answer for Shea, Shoemaker or the Fox diving team.

Loyola vs St. Francis. “Dog fight” or just another “what were you thinking of ?” match-up. According to Terriers website this is the first outing for the boys from the Bronx. Boris Plavsic “might” give Reeser a run for his money in the 100 Free but that’s about it. In 2008/09 the Terriers couldn’t muster any better than season bests 58.3 in the 100 Fly or 1:08 in the 100 Breast, etc. No one came close to breaking eleven minutes in the 1000. The Hounds will be swimming against themselves - again.

Manhattan vs Fairfield and Manhattan vs Pace (two meets). The Stags will easily take care of Manhattan – look for a Bimmler vs Varieur match-up in the 100 Free but little else will be competitive. When the Jaspers face Pace it might be a little different story. The “Makers” lost to the Lehman Lightning Bugs 135 – 89. To put this into proper perspective, the Bugs were the Jaspers first victory in over 20 years. Only 8 swimmers (4 Freshmen) going for the Makers this season. They just don’t have the depth to stay with the D-I men from the MAAC.

Rider will have a very challenging weekend – Tri meet with Delaware and LaSalle.
The Blue Hens* have great depth and Ryan Roberts (back), Hans Gillan (fly), and Grady Carter (sprints) are three of the better swimmers in CAA (just ask Locosuperhero). The Explorers are much improved with one of their better teams in the past few years - Tom Lawrie will challenge Funk in the 200 back and 200IM, Owen Black /Austin Thomas vs Player/Brady in the sprints. Rider should have the upper hand in the relays, but will give up points in the breaststroke to Blasé Szyszko (gotta love that name). The Hens will dominate but the LaSalle vs Rider match-up should be a good one.

*I guess the “Purple Eagles” was already taken and this was the second choice. At least I hope it wasn’t the other way around.

MAAC Man

[localsuperhero]

Yeah Rider's freshman women are swimming great but I think come taper time Marist has 3 of the best distance girls in the league while returning the defending champ and a girl whose already gone 5:00. I think in a battle of freshman Marist just has the edge, but you never know what will happen. Lot of other good freshman girls from other, non-powerhouse schools could steal points and it could swing either way. Its early, I should stop talking about MAAC's.

I think you'll see Fairfield get closer to beating the Red Foxes than ever before but it still won't be too close. The interesting thing is that if Marist puts up its best medley relay they still may lose to Fairfield.

This is exactly what I was talking about with Loyola's schedule. Why aren't THEY swimming Delaware and LaSalle? You've got the 32nd fastest flyer in the nation right now and a National team member and you are swimming a team that would lose to a lot of high school teams? I think its time to start giving up some money for some traveling.

I like you were just talking about Rider beating the LaSalle relays cause Delaware will probably beat both teams by a bit. Did this meet happen last year? Cause this would've been a great match-up with Modrov and Rosenbluth. A match-up that should be interesting is Player versus Gillan. While Hans obviously has the upper hand it'll interesting to see if Player is up for a challenge and gets pushed to a great swim, I think he will. There's just no answer for Robers and Carter, which there would've been last year. Should be an interesting meet and I'm looking forward to seeing what the Rider men do with such a challenge.

[MAAC Man]

Rider vs Delaware vs LaSalle - 2008

At last year's meet - Carter DNS.

Modrov beat Gillen in the 100 Free (47.10 vs 47.12) while Player was fourth. Modrov and Player finished 1-2 in the 50 free (21.1 and 21.6) vs John Ohlhaver

Modrov won the 200 Free 1:44.58 beating Owen Black (LaSalle).

Gillen beat Player in the 100 Fly (50.27 vs 51.17) while Rosenbluth won the 100 Back and 200 Back beating Ohlhaver in both events and also won the 200IM. Funk's times this year are about the same as Rosenbluth's at that meet.

MAAC Man

[localsuperhero]

Word. Didn't really remember if that meet happened last year haha.

[Dairyman]

Anyone heard of any Verbal commits in the MAAC?

[nyswmr]

Brigitte Doughty to Iona is the only thing I've heard. She is 54/1.56/5.09 and 1.01 back /1.00 fly/ 1.11 breast. Pretty solid pick up for the Gaels.

[localsuperhero]

Very solid. Here comes the Iona women MAAC MAN! haha. Obviously they're still a few years away but steady pick ups like this, and freshman Theresa Harvey, and the Gaels women will be on the toes of Loyola.

[MAAC Man]

Iona swimming has to be a hard sell. Because of water polo - it's a short season and, for the men a VERY short swimming season if they play polo.

Hate to say it, but East Coast Water Polo is kinda like watching a WNBA game. If you can play - go West young man.

MAAC Man